Bakery-Style Wild Blueberry Muffins

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

One bowl, one whisk, and a scoop — these muffins skip the mixer entirely. Frozen wild blueberries tossed in flour stay suspended instead of sinking, and a blast of 425°F heat at the start forces the batter up into a tall, craggy bakery dome before the oven drops to a gentler finish. Coarse sugar on top gives that crackly café-counter crust.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup whole-milk plain yogurt or sour cream
• 1/2 cup neutral oil (canola or vegetable)
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

• 2 cups frozen wild blueberries (do not thaw)
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, for tossing
• 3 tbsp coarse or turbinado sugar

Instructions

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 425°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners, or grease it well. If your tin is dark nonstick, expect the low end of all bake times.
2. Take the frozen wild blueberries straight from the freezer, put them in a bowl, and toss with the 2 tablespoons of flour until every berry is dusted. Return the bowl to the freezer while you mix the batter — cold berries bleed far less.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the 2 1/2 cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for a full 20 seconds so the leaveners are evenly distributed.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, yogurt, oil, melted butter, vanilla, and lemon zest directly into the well and whisk just those wet ingredients together until smooth, keeping the flour mostly on the outside of the bowl.
5. Switch to a flexible spatula and fold the wet into the dry with about 12 to 15 strokes, scraping from the bottom of the bowl. Stop while a few dry streaks remain — the batter should be very thick, almost like soft ice cream. Overmixing is what gives you tough, flat muffins.
6. Add the floured frozen blueberries and fold 5 or 6 more strokes, just until they are distributed. A little purple streaking is fine; a uniform lavender batter means you went too far.
7. Divide the batter among the 12 cups using a large spring-loaded scoop or two spoons. Mound it high and domed — the cups will be filled to the very top or slightly above, which is what creates the bakery crown. Sprinkle each generously with coarse sugar.
8. Bake at 425°F for 8 minutes without opening the door. Then, without removing the pan, reduce the oven to 350°F and bake 12 to 15 minutes more, until the domes are golden, spring back when pressed lightly, and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin (avoiding a berry) comes out with no wet batter.
9. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then lift the muffins onto a wire rack. Cooling in the pan any longer steams the bottoms soft. Serve warm, or cool completely before storing.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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